Murder in the Balcony - A Review

Murder in the Balcony

by

Margaret Dumas

Given one theater manager, a 80-year-old ghost, and a motley crew of theater employees, how do you find the person responsible for the murder of two real estate professionals? Carefully.

Nora Paige wore many hats. She managed The Movie Palace, an 80+-year-old movie theater in San Francisco that showed only oldies but goodies on the silver screen. She is separated from her two-timing, scheming husband, a film star in his own right. She is also the anonymous movie reviewer Sally Lee - a secret that she is hesitant to let others know. Finally, she is the only person who can see Trixie, the friendly ghost of a young usherette who had died in the early days of the theater’s history that had forgotten to leave after her death. Now Trixie spends her days assisting Nora (and indirectly, the police) find murderers associated with The Movie Palace.

In this second book based around The Movie Palace has a young student, Warren, who has graduated from The Movie Palace to work with June Howard’s real estate firm as an intern with a promising career ahead of him. Except he has disappeared - at least his body turns up at home apparently killed by a home intruder. It would take Nora’s skills as an amateur detective and Trixie’s skill as an unseen spy to find the person responsible for his death.

What makes these books special is that the author weaves Sally Lee’s reviews into the book - inviting even this modern moviegoer to watch some classic films from an earlier time. Sadly these films are so old that they are rarely found on the Amazon or Netflix subscription services. They can be rented - but who wants to rent when hundreds of movies are available from the traditional services.

For the fan of Turner Classic Movies, Murder in the Balcony will fill a whole while they wait for their next favorite movie to make its way to cable. Libraries may want to take Margaret Dumas’ books and build a movie collection around each one - the reader and the film buff will have a field day. And those who enjoy a cozy mystery will find The Movie Palace a good place stop.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.

Killer Thriller - A Review

Killer Thriller

by

Lee Goldberg

A Review

I was introduced to Lee Goldberg’s writing through his collection of books featuring the mentally ill, but superb, detective, Adrian Monk. This book is not Monk. It is grittier, more explicit, and more action-packed.

Ian Ludlow is a fiction writer whose imagination is clever enough that it parallels reality — parallels so close that governments, in this case, the Chinese, are out to stop the leaks that are revealing their secret plans to take over the United States government.

The action moves from Los Angeles to Hong Kong to France. Ian has no idea that the plot of his latest (and yet unpublished) novel reveal plans that are already in motion to control the American Presidency. Ian, his CIA sidekick, Margo, and the fictional star of Ian’s books, Slacker, to save both the President and the American government.

The book held this reader’s attention from beginning to end – whether in LA, Hong Kong, or Paris. It required numerous dips into Wikipedia to check maps, historical references, and miscellaneous facts — a sign of a fun book for this reader.

My only concern was the extra grittiness and explicit speech and behavior recorded by the author. Because of this added touch, I am awarding the book 4-1/2 stars rather than the five I might expect to give a book of this caliber. The average reader, if not offended by the explicit and gritty text, will enjoy this book. It should be a welcome addition to the local libraries' bookshelf.

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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.